


Baseball

by kethni



Category: Veep (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Sappy, Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-18
Updated: 2017-11-18
Packaged: 2019-02-03 21:27:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12756531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kethni/pseuds/kethni
Summary: I thought it would be interesting to look at the series one episode "Baseball" but pairing Selina with Kent instead of Ted.





	Baseball

**Author's Note:**

> With thanks for the request for fun, touchy-feely, sappy established Kent/Selina story. It's not quite as fun as I wanted but I hope you like it.

Catherine tried to get on with her dad’s girlfriends and her mom’s boyfriends. She couldn’t see her mom ever having girlfriends or her dad having boyfriends, but if they did then she’d have tried to get on with them too.

It was… mostly awkward and uncomfortable. Plus, her parents were so screwed up that just when Catherine got used to Tammy, Crystal, or Mindy, Paul, Chad, or Steve, they disappeared in a puff of hate and… like yelling.

Kent had lasted the longest by... months and months. He wasn’t a stranger, even when he and Catherine’s mom had just started dating, but he was strange.

Okay, strange was a bad choice of word. Weird? Odd? God, they were all so negative, and she didn’t mean it negatively at all. Um, unusual. Not a great word but she had to work with she had, and her medium was dance, not words. So, um, yeah. He was unusual. For one thing, he was almost old enough to be Catherine’s grandfather. That took off a lot of the pressure. With her mom’s boyfriends there could be this gross tension. Like, sexual tension? There was none of that with Kent. Actually, she was pretty sure he thought she was a child. That was pretty freaking annoying, but it was a billion times better than the creepy tension.

Also, and this was another big deal for Catherine, Kent was friendly without trying to be her friend. Ugh, her dad’s girlfriends especially were _always_ trying to be her friend. They tried way too hard and got way too invested in trying to get on her good side. By the time they got to being “friends,” they were usually ready to break up with her dad. Kent didn’t go out of his way to talk to her or try to make her like him. He just was, and he let her be, and that was such a relief.

***

Gary checked his watch again. He could hear voices beyond the door. Not “intimate” sounds. Those were always louder. _So_ much louder. This was just talking. Probably as they were in bed. Selina would be in a little silk negligee, curled up, with her hair spread across the pillows. The light through the windows would play across her perfect, porcelain skin, illuminating the subtle rose shades in her cheeks, and the deeper pink in her lips. The hem of her negligee would kiss her supple thighs, and the swooping neckline would caress her breasts.

Gary has been in Selina’s bedroom, not in a moment like this of course, but he knows what her bedroom looks like. He can picture the bed.

He can picture Selina.

‘Jesus, Gary,’ she said suddenly in front of him. ‘Wait downstairs. Go have a coffee or something.’

She headed off to the bathroom, as Gary walked downstairs. No beautiful nightdress, just one of Kent’s t-shirts. It reached mid-thigh on her and the V-neck showed a hint of her chest that was somehow more enticing than a plunging gown. Barefoot, bare face, and a plain white t-shirt. That was what Kent did to her: he encouraged her to be _normal_. To act as if she was just anyone. Gary had tried to tell Selina, he’d even tried to tell Catherine, but they looked at him as if he were crazy.

Gary looked up at the sound of running feet. Selina scampered across the hallway. As she approached the bedroom door, it swung open. Kent caught her in his arms as she jumped. Gary shook his head at the sound of the giggling. It was all so undignified.

Amy was in the kitchen, drinking coffee, and texting as if the screen had personally offended her.

‘When did you get here?’ he asked.

She waved a hand. ‘While you were lurking outside the bedroom. I think you were listening to them fuck.’

‘I was not!’ Gary said. ‘They haven’t made love this morning.’

‘Ew,’ Amy protested. ‘You knowing that is incredibly disturbing.’

Gary reddened and looked away. ‘They’re not quiet.’

Amy looked up as they heard someone jogging down the stairs.

‘You need to knock that shit off,’ she hissed at Gary.

Gary’s hackles rose. It was unfair. It was hugely unfair. He just wanted to be there if Selina needed him! That was all!

The door swung open and Kent wandered in, buttoning up his shirt. He had so much _hair_ , it escaped the top of the t-shirt he was wearing. For all his expensive suits and tailored shirts, there was something musky and almost animal about him.

‘Good morning children,’ Kent said.

Gary grunted. Kent didn’t notice or didn’t care. He was talking to Amy about... bah, something or other. Work stuff. She was always asking Kent’s advice, like he was so smart. Huh.

Kent used to work for the campaign. That’s where Selina first met him. If Gary could go back in time... well he had a list actually. But doing something about Kent was on that list. Right near the top.

They were looking at him and waiting.

‘What?’ Gary asked.

Amy rolled her eyes. ‘Kent was asking if you’re looking forward to meeting the Orioles.’

Gary nodded. ‘I don’t follow baseball, but my dad is a super huge fan.’

‘My father preferred football.’ Kent said. ‘But I will happily sit and watch almost any sport. Except NASCAR. That’s not a sport. It’s daycare for drunk imbeciles.’

Amy sniggered. Gary said nothing. Sports were just an excuse for overdeveloped testosterone poisoning victims to get college educations that they didn’t deserve. Jocks were almost as loathsome as financial con artists. Like Andrew.

Kent made two coffees and took them upstairs, he was whistling now. He was another one who liked sports. He was practically a jock himself.

***

Amy watched Selina wandering back into the healthy eating launch. Like everything was just _fine_. Jesus Christ, pregnant? Selina was way too old to be having a baby. And Kent? He was even older. God, what was wrong with these people. They weren’t teenagers.

Look, Amy had enough problems to deal with without a goddamn baby. Selina would have to have it and she couldn’t be unmarried when she did it. No abortion and no single mom narrative because they would be _obliterated_ in the press. That meant for months and months it was all going to be babies and weddings and girly bullshit that bored Amy to death.

The only possible positive in the entire mess was that Kent knew the score. He’d worked for the campaign. He’d understand what needed to be done. God, he better. Amy had worked quite closely with Kent during the campaign. They weren’t friends, friends were for grade school and shitty nineties sit-coms, but they had a good working relationship. He had a cool reserve that would’ve made him a disaster as a political candidate, but oddly relaxing as a co-worker. He didn’t scream, he didn’t throw things, and he’d never grabbed her tits or made an inappropriate sexual remark. He just did his job, occasionally with a dryly sarcastic or satirical aside, but Amy found them funny rather than problematic. Since he’d left the campaign he’d been pretty helpful, giving Amy bits of advice, context, or support that she found useful.

She didn’t know when he and Selina had started banging, and that was frustrating because she and Kent had talked. People did. Campaigning was stressful, and stressed-Selina could be psycho-bitch-Selina and there had been times when Amy had vented to Kent about it. She was pretty sure he hadn’t told Selina, yet. She hoped he hadn’t.

The first time Amy had realised there was something going on with them, was when Selina was getting ready for a speech. Kent had come in to give her some new polling figures. Sue and Amy had watched with mounting horror as Selina groped Kent’s ass, and he just gave Selina a sly little smirk.

He wasn’t Selina’s type. He wasn’t supposed to be her type. Okay, they bickered and that was definitely her thing, but she liked dark men her own age or younger. Kent was quite a bit older than Selina, and almost completely grey. And he had that cold robotic thing going on. Now he’d maybe gotten her pregnant? What the fuck?

Amy flipped her pen in her fingers. He’d have been screened when Hughes took him on, but still. If there was a baby then there would have to be a wedding and Amy would need to check out any ex-wives, kids, or scandals waiting to pop up. It was so much fucking work on top of every other damn thing, and all because two adults got hammered and banged without a rubber.

How did that even work? Drunk Selina was loud, obnoxious, and occasionally aggressive. The one time that Amy had seen Kent after a few drinks, he’d been quiet and thoughtful, bordering on maudlin. They seemed like a terrible match, in every way.

***

Selina bit her lip.

‘Oh,’ he said. That was all.

‘What does that mean?’ she asked, looking vaguely around the baseball field.

‘It means I’m surprised. I thought you were going to use Plan B the morning after.’

Selina pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead. ‘I forgot! And I’m busy! And I’m so dried up and old I didn’t think it would matter!’

There was a moment of silence.

‘It’s very unfair for you to get upset when I’m not there to console you,’ he said.

She slumped into a seat. ‘It’s not like I’m doing it on purpose.’

‘Shall I come there?’ he asked. ‘I can pat your hand and tell you that of course you’re not dried up or old.’

Selina smiled despite herself. ‘You just wanna meet the players.’

He chuckled. ‘Shouldn’t you be at the school?’

Selina groaned. ‘There was a gas leak or some fucking thing. I’m trapped at the stadium. Alone, I might add.’

‘How did you manage that? Aren’t there dozens of people attending the launch?’

Selina waved her hand. ‘They don’t count. I mean _real_ people. Dan and Amy are at the school already, Mike is at schmoozing with the press, and Gary left to get me a decent coffee like an hour ago. There’s just me and these losers. And Jonah for some godforsaken reason.’

She heard Kent moving around. ‘The infamous Jonah?’

‘The one and only,’ she said. She lowered her voice and turned her back to the players. ‘Kent?’

‘Hmm?’

‘What are we going to do?’

She was expecting hesitation and dreading denial.

She got neither.

‘What do you want to do?’ he asked gently. ‘It’s not how I envisioned us getting engaged, but shotgun weddings are quite traditional in a certain manner of speaking.’

‘Asshole,’ she said. ‘So ... you’ve thought about it?’

‘Marrying you? Yes. Particularly as our relationship deepened.’

Selina smiled. ‘You didn’t say.’

‘The timing seemed poor. I didn’t want to derail your vice presidency with domestic issues.’

Selina groaned softly. ‘Well, your dick already did that,’ she grumbled.

‘Sorry,’ he said.

He didn’t sound contrite at all.

***

Dan knew something hinkey was going on. At first, he thought it was just Amy being pregnant, God what a nightmare, but then Kent Davison turned up at the school.

‘What’s he doing here?’ Gary asked, breathlessly.

Dan flashed him a look. ‘You don’t know?’

Gary hugged the bag of pregnancy tests to his chest. ‘He should be at work.’

‘Well if they didn’t tell you...’

‘You don’t know either,’ Gary sniffed. ‘At least he knows who I am.’

‘Yeah,’ Dan agreed. ‘Exactly the same way he knows the name of Selina’s pony or boat.’

It was true that Dan hadn’t been introduced to Davison. He never came to the Eisenhower and Dan was never at Selina’s house. Davison was near legendary: turning Hughes’ primary disaster into a clear win and clawing back a huge amount of states in the presidential election. Banging him was probably the smartest thing that Selina had done, aside from hiring Dan.

‘Oh, Jesus,’ Amy said. ‘What’s he doing here?’

‘Don’t you know?’ Gary asked.

Amy pulled a face, and stomped across to Davison, who... seemed pretty pleased to see her. It was hard to tell with the beard. Amy flipped her hair back and played with her collar.

Uh huh.

‘Hey, Gary,’ Dan said, ‘during the campaign, was Kent Davison screwing Amy?’

‘Ew! What? No,’ Gary said.

Dan grinned. ‘What’s your problem?’

‘Number one, the whole question is offensive, and number two, he’s almost old enough to be her father.’

Dan sniggered. ‘No, he’s not, not even close, and if he was, so what? You think he wants to sleep with women his own age? Men are apples, Gary, and women are peaches. Peaches taste better but apples last longer.’

Gary stared at him. ‘You just ruined apple pie for me. I hope you appreciate that.’

***

Selina was smiling, but it wasn’t convincing. Her mask was slipping. She ushered Kent into a little anteroom, and hugged him immediately.

‘Hi.’

She was trembling. He thought she only trembled when she was angry. Generally, it was a sign to duck because she was about to throw something breakable.

Selina took a step back. ‘Okay. I took a test. Three tests, actually, and I am very pregnant.’

Kent nodded. ‘Okay.’

‘I have to keep it,’ she said. ‘And we have to get married, so you need to –’

He pulled out the little box. ‘It might need re-sizing.’

Selina was staring at it. ‘What if the tests had been negative?’

Kent opened the box, so she could see the ring. ‘I’d hold onto it for a couple months and do the boring, standard one-knee proposal.’

Selina tried not to smile. ‘Oh yeah?’

‘Yeah.’

She picked it up. ‘This is an heirloom?’

‘I know,’ he said. ‘But you could replace the band with something more your style.’

‘Kitschy can be fun,’ she said.

Kent nodded and smiled. ‘You hate it.’

‘Yeah,’ she said, leaning up to kiss him. ‘But it’ll grow on me.’

Kent slipped his arms around her as they kissed. ‘I hope so.’

***

Frank was used to the hours, which were frequently very late, and the noise, which could be anything from forty people yelling at each other, to two people screaming.

The reason for the yelling was usually the same. The reason for the screaming... well that usually was either followed by breaking crockery or a lot of moaning. Some of the lads, the younger ones mostly, found it embarrassing. Frank was older and appreciated a woman who knew how to enjoy herself. He thought the world would be a happier place if more people had sex as regularly and enthusiastically as his charge appeared to. Especially people over forty.

It was late right now or, depending on your perspective, early. It had been a long shift and Frank was in that half-awake, half-asleep, completely at attention stance employed by watchmen, security guards, and their kin across the world. In the greyscale world of the house at two a.m., he didn’t immediately see “Superman” coming down the steps, but heard him.

Frank had his hand on his gun as he turned.

‘The vice president needs a doctor urgently.’

Frank didn’t ask questions. He wasn’t employed for his inquisitive nature. Nonetheless, he noticed the blood on the other man’s hands and legs.

“Superman” saw him register the blood and reach the obvious conclusion.

‘She hasn’t been stabbed,’ he said. ‘Do you have a female agent who can come confirm?’

‘Will do, Mr Davison,’ Frank said.

He said sent Betty up to “Catwoman’s” room while he was arranging for an ambulance. Frank didn’t get paid to ask questions, but wasn’t having the vice president bleeding to death on his watch.

Betty had her head bowed when she came downstairs.

‘Doctor on the way?’ she asked.

‘Ambulance,’ Frank said. ‘What is it?’

‘Miscarriage,’ Betty said.

They were quiet for a moment.

‘Lot of blood,’ Frank said. ‘But still, maybe...’

Betty shook her head. ‘Nah.’

The ambulance was there in a few minutes. The paramedics ran up the stairs with Betty. Frank stayed at the bottom. They were up in her bedroom a while, longer than he expected, but not so long that Frank’s shifted ended.

He was still there when they brought her down. She’d got dressed into sweats and a t-shirt. Her daughter’s, he was pretty sure. She was pale, paler than just the lack of makeup, and she was gripping on to “Superman’s” arm.

Betty followed, and Frank joined her as they walked out to the cars.

They watched her get in the car first. “Superman” stood for a moment, looking up at the moon, and then got in the car with her.

‘Jesus,’ Frank said, getting in the car with Betty. ‘Is she going to be okay?’

‘Needs a procedure,’ Betty said. ‘Lost a kid. Tomorrow she’s gotta get up and pretend nothing happened.’

* * *

Frank was on the door to the waiting room. He tensed when the door opened but relaxed when he saw “Superman” walk in. He was wearing his shirt from earlier in the day. it was rumpled and stained, and he was rebuttoning it. Frank had noticed that the buttons were to the wrong holes but hadn’t said anything. If he’d gone out in his underpants and a bucket on his head, then Frank wouldn’t have said anything.

‘I’m going to get a coffee,’ he said to Frank. ‘Do you want one?’

‘I can’t,’ Frank said.

“Superman” shrugged. ‘I won’t tell,’ he said, but headed out without an answer.

Frank watched him go. It wasn’t unknown for people new to it to be confused by the secret service agents. Sometimes people got offended by the back of interaction or they went completely the other way and were occasionally shocked that they weren’t completely silent, mobile furniture. “Superman” didn’t seem to be either of those. He hadn’t much spoken to Frank, but Frank knew that he’d talked to some of the other agents, mostly Samira and Omar. He’d signed Rose’s card when her partner had a baby, and put into Carl’s collection when he was leaving. “Catwoman” _hated_ agents interacting with her, she’d even had one guy reassigned for smiling at her, or so the story went. But “Superman,” like many of the staffers, tended to be more open to treating agents as if they were people.

He brought two coffees into the waiting room. He put one on the window ledge by Frank, and sat down in one of the rusty, sagging chairs. He leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes.  

‘What time does your shift end?’ he asked.

‘Should’ve been two,’ Frank admitted.

“Superman” nodded. ‘I thought so.’ He sipped his coffee. ‘If nobody sees you drink a coffee, have you really drunk it?’

Frank hadn’t had a beverage in nearly five hours and he had not been prepared for a double shift. The coffee was singing to him.

‘There are two sugars,’ “Superman” said. ‘I think that’s right.’

Frank picked up the coffee and took a sip. ‘It’s good.’

‘It’s not ideal but it’s not the usual rubbish,’ “Superman” said. He sighed. ‘I always wanted a family. I always meant for it to happen, but I never prioritised it, I never made it happen and it… It never happened.’

‘I have a little girl,’ Frank admitted. ‘Not that little now. I don’t… I’m not as close to her as I’d like.’

‘It never seems to be as simple as one would wish,’ “Superman” said. ‘My father and I never managed to connect as I think either of us hoped. I didn’t understand him. He didn’t understand me.’

‘I should call her,’ Frank said.

“Superman” nodded. ‘I wish I could call my father.’ He ran his thumb around the lid of the cup. ‘I would have liked the chance… It was probably absurd. I’m far too old. She has a career.’

Frank looked across at the other man. He was staring at the wall, unseeing.

‘There’s still time,’ Frank said quietly.

“Superman” shook his head. ‘She won’t make that make that mistake again.’

***

Selina growled at the blare of the alarm. She was somewhere warm and dark and quiet. The alarm was a screaming intrusion. The world moved around her, and the noise stopped mid-bleep.

‘Thanks,’ she mumbled.

‘It’s okay.’

Her face was pressed against his chest. She could feel the slow, steady beat of his heart. His hand came up and stroked her hair.

‘How do you feel?’ he asked.

At any other time, in any other circumstances, she would have told him in explicit detail. That morning, she told him that she was tired, sore, and fed-up.

‘Call in sick,’ he said.

‘Can’t.’

He kissed the top of her forehead. ‘I could call in sick and take care of you.’

Selina stretched out and then lay her arm across his waist. ‘That’s what got us into this situation.’

He shook his head. ‘I didn’t mean that. I meant look after you.’

Selina sat up reluctantly. ‘I’m not sick.’

‘I know.’

‘It’s no big deal,’ she said pushing back her hair.

‘Isn’t it?’

Selina set her shoulders. She didn’t have time to dwell on the past. She had to move forward. ‘It happens all the time,’ she said. ‘Every day.’

‘Not to us,’ Kent said.

‘I can’t afford to be a baby about this,’ she said.

He flinched.

‘That was a poor choice of word,’ she admitted. She couldn’t afford to get emotional. She had to keep moving. Be rational. Not emotional.

‘People would understand,’ he said.

‘Ha! You know what people would understand? They would understand that I’m a woman. I can’t have people thinking that when they look at me! I am a politician first and foremost.’ She put her hands on her hips. ‘I can’t show any weakness.’

Kent released a slow breath. ‘Okay.’

‘Okay?’

‘Okay.’

Selina cocked her head. ‘Are you humouring me?’

‘I’d never do that.’

Selina picked up a pillow. ‘Don’t humour me,’ she grumbled, and hit him with it.

‘Oof!’

‘Ow!’ Selina howled, and dropped down.

Kent caught her. ‘Are you okay?’

‘No!’ she slapped his arm. ‘Yes. Fuck. Ow.’

He rubbed her back. ‘You want an icepack?’

Selina shook her head. ‘God no.’

Kent rubbed her arm. ‘How about ice cream?’

Selina rolled her eyes. ‘How’s that going to help my pain?’

‘It’s not, but ice cream is its own reward,’ Kent said.

‘Yeah,’ she said, ‘but I gotta get up and go to work. I have just... a billion things to do.’ She got out of bed and pulled on her t-shirt. She winced as she walked, and glanced back to see if he noticed.

He was pretending that he hadn’t. Shit.

‘Am I gonna see you tonight?’ she asked.

‘Sure,’ he said. ‘Unless you’ve had a better offer.’

Selina shrugged. ‘I’m not gonna be able to have sex for a few days.’

He raised his eyebrows. ‘You don’t want to see me if we’re not going to have sex?’

‘No.’ She folded her arms. ‘I thought maybe you wouldn’t want to see me if sex was off the table.’

Kent got out of bed and walked across to her. ‘Did you? Or did you just say that to hear me promise that I want to see you even without sex? Because I do.’

Selina stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. ‘Shut up,’ she said.

***

Gary had an armful of catalogues as he skipped up the steps. ‘Hi Frank! Shouldn’t you have finished already?’

Frank sighed almost imperceptibly but Gary knew exactly what that meant: Frank had been stuck with a double shift, again!

Gary wandered into the vestibule and put the catalogues down on the table. They could wait there while he got himself a coffee. The kitchen staff were in the main kitchen. There was no telling what they were up to. Gary wasn’t allowed to talk to them anymore. If people couldn’t take oversight or helpful criticisms, then they had no business working for Selina. There were a couple of plates on the sink, some cups, and some other dishes. What had been going on here? Who had been cooking after the main kitchen closed? This was appalling! Poor Selina was eating for two now and here was someone taking advantage of her generous and kindly good nature. It made him so angry!

The door swung open and Amy scurried in with the catalogues.

‘Help me get rid of these before she sees them!’

‘I spent hours collecting all those!’

Amy goggled at him. ‘Why? Why would you do that?’

Gary beamed at her. ‘Because she’s going to have a baby! It’s going to be amazing, Amy!’

‘No, she’s not!’

‘But… but the tests all said she was pregnant,’ Gary said.

Amy dumped the catalogues on the counter. ‘She _was_ pregnant. Last night she lost the baby.’

Gary sank into a chair. ‘Oh my God!’

‘So get rid of these.’

‘Oh my God. Is she... okay? Is she in hospital? Is there going to be a funeral?’

Amy threw the catalogues into trash herself. ‘She went to the hospital. Now she’s home. Pull your shit together, she doesn’t know that we know.’

‘How do you know?’ Gary asked. ‘Maybe it’s not true! Maybe –’

‘Catherine told me,’ Amy interrupted. ‘Kent called her. For some reason he thought that would be helpful. I don’t know.’

‘This is awful,’ Gary said quietly. ‘Poor Selina.’

‘Remember what I said about keeping it together?’ Amy said. ‘Do that.’

It was.... Gary didn’t have words for what it was. He watched Amy stomp out of the kitchen without remembering why he was even there. Selina had to be so upset! This was... Should he make her a coffee? Breakfast? How could he make this better?

The kitchen door swung open. Gary got to his feet.

‘Oh.’ Selina said. ‘I... I didn’t know you were here.’

‘Would... would you like a coffee?’ Gary asked. ‘I don’t know who’s been in here making such a mess, but I am going to take them to task.’

She looked tired and distracted, but maybe that was just because she wasn’t wearing makeup. ‘Yeah, that was us,’ she said, going to the coffee machine. ‘We were... we were up late and... I got hungry. No big deal.’

Gary nodded. ‘Sure, uh-huh, absolutely.’

Selina waved at the coffee pot. ‘I didn’t sleep great. Can you help me out?’

‘Maybe you should call in sick?’ Gary suggested.

‘Don’t you start,’ she said. ‘I’ve just had Kent trying to baby me.’

Gary pursed his lips. When Selina was sick he normally had her to himself. Andrew wanting nothing to do with her when she was ill was the worst but her other boyfriends also tended to steer clear when she was ill. Kent was far too interested in the fine detail of Selina’s life. He needed to let Gary look after her. That was his job!

Selina took her coffee, and walked away. The hem of the t-shirt she was wearing was trailing a couple of loose threads. If Kent was any good for her then he would have done something about those.

***

Selina slammed the door in their stupid, panicky faces. Jesus! She was surrounded by fucking imbeciles. She grabbed up the phone and punched in the number.

‘Kent?’

‘What’s wrong?’

Selina paced around the couch. ‘Nothing,’ she said. ‘Everything. I’m just swimming in sewage and my asshole staff keep pushing under.’

‘The secret service agent issue?’ he asked.

They were talking right outside her door. Didn’t those assholes realise she could fucking hear them?

‘Yeah,’ Selina said. She leaned against her desk. ‘I think I’m gonna have to fire Amy, and I don’t want to. Fuck.’

Kent clucked his tongue. ‘She’s been with you for a long time.’

Selina snarled. ‘So’s Mike and he’s still fucking useless.’

‘Amy’s not. She quite competent,’ Kent said.

‘Yeah.’ Selina scratched her forehead. ‘I’m not gonna fire her.’

‘Especially as you’re the one who reassigned the secret service agent and not Amy.’

Selina rolled her eyes. ‘It doesn’t matter who’s actually to blame. Don’t bust my balls.’

‘If I don’t bust your balls then who will?’

‘Hopefully nobody,’ she retorted. ‘Ugh. Okay, I’m gonna go. Can I... Are you gonna come over later?’

‘Yes,’ he said.

Selina groaned. ‘Fuck, I know that tone. I already asked you that didn’t I?’

He chuckled. ‘I’ll take it as a sign of your enthusiasm.’

***

‘I don’t know how to ask Kent about this,’ Selina said.

Amy stared at the diamond ring which Selina had slid onto the desk. ‘Right. How do you ask someone about having the worst taste in jewellery?’

‘Not that.’ Selina picked it up. ‘And it was his grandmother’s. It’s not like he chose it.’

‘He chose to give it to you,’ Amy said.

‘Because I was pregnant, the story was out, and we needed to be engaged in a hurry.’ Selina turned the ring over in her fingers. ‘Now I don’t know if I’m supposed to give it back or what.’

‘With extreme prejudice,’ Amy said, nodding.

It was the wrong answer. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

‘It’s not that ugly,’ Selina mumbled.

Oh fuck. Amy pushed a lock of her hair back. ‘So, he asked you...’

‘Because of the baby,’ Selina said quickly. She chewed her lower lip.

Amy tightly folded her arms. ‘And now you’re worrying that he might want to... Not want to still get married?’

Selina ran her thumb over the cluster of tiny gems. ‘We haven’t spoken about it.’

‘Do you want to?’

Selina shuddered. ‘To talk about it? God, no.’

Amy squinted at her. ‘Do you want to... marry him?’

Selina laughed, a tight, false sound. ‘Why would you ask that? Do I... look like I want to get married? I’m not some love-struck twenty-year-old.’

A wedding could get lots of great publicity, that would be a great distraction, and if they handled it right they could really bump up her approval ratings. But Selina’s track record with men was shit. Kent was the only guy since the divorce who’d lasted more than a few weeks.

Selina snapped her fingers. ‘Amy! Are you listening to a word I said?’

‘You don’t want to marry Kent?’

Selina squirmed in her seat. ‘I didn’t say that.’

‘So, you do?’

‘I didn’t say that either,’ Selina protested. ‘Why is everything so black and white with you?’

Amy took a deep breath. ‘It does seem like a question with only two answers. Plus, you don’t have much time.’

Selina tensed. ‘What? Why don’t I have much time?’

Amy waved her hand. ‘Because he gave you a ring and you’re not wearing it. That’s a pretty big hint.’

‘The ring is too big,’ Selina protested.

‘Are you sure that’s why you’re not wearing it?

***

Selina was in the bath when Kent arrived at the residence. She had her hands resting on her belly. She was still aching, a dull, steady ache that she could almost ignore except for the sudden stabbing spasms that attacked without warning. She listened to the steps creaking as Kent came up the stairs.

‘Selina?’

‘I’m in the bath! Come in.’

He pushed the door open. ‘Rough day?’

‘They’re all rough days,’ she grumbled. ‘Take your clothes off.’

‘Take my clothes off?’ Kent repeated, loosening his tie. ‘This is an odd start to not having sex. Maybe I should leave you to it.’

Selina smirked at him. ‘Worried you won’t able to control yourself?’

He unbuttoned his cuffs. ‘I’m worried that you won’t.’

‘I promise that I won’t hurt you,’ she said.

‘Oh good.’

‘ _Much_.’

Selina moved aside as he stripped down. The bath was extra-large courtesy of a former occupant’s prediction for particularly voluptuous hookers, or so the story went. She’d never bothered to find out.

Kent slid into the water, and lay back. Selina ran her fingers through his chest hair.

‘You’re not going to lie down here?’ he asked.

‘In a minute, don’t rush me.’ Selina pushed back her hair. ‘We’re releasing a whole bunch of records.’

He nodded.

‘It’s kind of a tactic to distract from specific data that’s in there along with everything else,’ she said. ‘It was Amy’s idea.’

‘That could backfire.’

‘You sound like Dan.’

‘Which one is Dan?’

Selina snorted. ‘Who the fuck even cares? I hire these smart, hungry staffers and they turn around and fuck up in the most... apocalyptic ways!

Kent splashed water at her.

‘Hey!’

‘You’re being hyperbolic.’

‘Am not.’ Selina splashed back. ‘You don’t know what he did.’

‘I know there hasn’t been an apocalypse.’ He flicked water at her. ‘Recently.’

Selina threw a handful of water at him, laughing as he grabbed her. He turned her around and pulled her against him:

‘Desist wench,’ he said.

‘Did you call me witch?’

‘Wench,’ he corrected. ‘It means woman.’

‘I know that!’ She elbowed him. Then she relaxed against him. ‘The thing is, we’re gonna be releasing info about people visiting here. Which means you.’

She felt him shrug. He slid his arms around her.

‘It’s not exactly a secret. Neither of us is cheating on anyone. I don’t see a problem.’

‘You might get some press attention is all.’ Selina put her hands over his. ‘Those fuckers can be assholes.’

‘True, but I’m very boring. I’m sure they’ll lose interest quickly.’

‘I hope that you’re right.’

She took a breath. Talk to him about the ring. Just ask. Just say it.

Kent kissed her cheek. ‘You want to go cuddle? We can watch a movie. It’ll be fun.’

Selina released her breath. ‘I’ve still got other body parts that work.’ She looked at him over her shoulder. ‘Ask me nicely and I’ll give you a hand job.’

Kent shook his head. ‘It’s no fun for me if it’s no fun for you. I can wait.’

***

Oh God, there were people everywhere! Gary didn’t like reporters at the best of times and this definitely wasn’t that. The pregnancy story was everywhere, and releasing these files was like... throwing gas on a fire!

He fought past the reporters outside Selina’s residence and into the building. He needed a coffee, stat. He didn’t know what it meant, but it sounded right.

Gary pushed open the door to the small kitchen, and stopped. There was someone hunched over the counter. They had their head down, so all Gary could see was their long torso and narrow shoulders.

Gary cleared his throat. The other person straightened up. Even before he turned around, Gary knew it was Kent. He had that ridiculous thick grey hair. Gary was acutely aware of his own thinning hair. It seemed horribly unfair that the older man should be older, good-looking, with a full head of hair, and be physically active.

‘Gary. Hello.’ His eyes were red and puffy.

Had he... had he been crying? Oh God.

‘What’s wrong?’ Gary whispered.

‘That obvious, huh?’ Kent scrubbed his hand across his eyes. ‘Selina is much better at the whole brave face thing.’

Gary sat down opposite him. ‘About the baby?’

‘Yeah.’

Gary had never liked Kent. He didn’t like any of Selina’s boyfriends, and he hated Andrew, but he felt a sudden rush of warmth and affection.

‘It’s heart-breaking,’ Gary said honestly. ‘I cried for hours last night.’

Kent gave him an odd look, and then nodded. ‘I believe you.’

‘Do you think you’ll try again?’ Gary asked hopefully.

Kent shook his head. ‘I’m sure Selina won’t want to, it’s terrible timing for her, and realistically I’m far too old to father a child.’

‘Oh.' Gary sighed. ‘Are you going to have a service or anything?’

Kent shook his head. ‘From what Selina said, it was very early on. I think for her it’s easier to think about it as little more than a handful of cells rather than an embryo.’

Gary blanched. He frequently struggled with having different values than most of his colleagues, but most of all Selina. That was _so_ difficult.

‘It’s still a baby,’ Gary said, ‘do you know if it was a little boy or a little girl?’

Kent frowned. ‘At that age, they’re all female.’

Gary blinked. ‘Um, okay, that can’t be true. Where do boys come from?’

‘A release of hormones in the twelfth week,’ Kent said. ‘Did you do no sex education in school?’

Stung, Gary pursed his lips. ‘We learned that all life begins at conception.’

Kent raised his eyebrows. ‘Religious school?’

‘I thought about becoming a pastor,’ Gary said.

‘Yeah. I can see that.’

Gary ignored that. ‘Do you have a name for her? I’ll say prayers for her.’

Kent’s expression was unreadable. He was quiet for several long seconds. ‘You’re still religious?’

‘Of course!’ Gary agreed. ‘It’s very comforting in times of unhappiness.’

‘You’re not going to tell me that God wanted another angel, are you?’

Gary’s mouth dropped open. ‘No! The death of a child is always a tragedy!’

Kent held up his hands. ‘While I disagree that she was a child precisely... I appreciate year kindness in offering to pray for her. I know that you mean well. We hadn’t discussed names.’ Kent thought about it. ‘I always liked Elizabeth. It has more diminutives than any other English female name.’

‘I will pray for her,’ Gary said. ‘Stat.’

‘You don’t know what that means, do you?’

‘Quickly?’ Gary hazarded.

‘Immediately,’ Kent said. ‘It’s from the Latin, statim.’

Gary hugged his bag to his chest. ‘Oh. That’s... oh.’

***

Selina gently banged her head on the desk.

‘Sorry,’ Amy said.

‘I can’t announce that I had a miscarriage,’ Selina said. ‘And can we shoot down the reporters harassing Kent?’

‘That won’t help with the pregnancy story,’ Dan said.

‘It’ll help him,’ Selina retorted. ‘Go. Get. Find some way to call off the dogs.’

Kent was going to dump her. The miscarriage. Assholes sat on his lawn. People about to find out about the miscarriage...

‘Gary,’ Selina said. ‘I need you to do something for me very, very quickly, and very, very, discreetly.’

Gary’s eyes were like a fucking junkie’s. ‘Okay.’

‘This is important, you understand? If you fuck this up... Okay, I won’t accept your resignation, but I will be super pissed.’

‘I am on it!’

***

Kent considered calling Selina and taking a rain check. All he wanted to do was hide somewhere and sleep for a couple hundred years. After burying his cell at the earth’s core. Even screening his calls didn’t much help as there were _so_ many calls and so frequently. But he couldn’t do that. Selina had specifically asked him to come around again. That alone proved that she wasn’t feeling like herself. Selina was an extremely independent woman. That wasn’t a complaint: Kent was generally attracted to independent, self-contained women. Selina was normally too busy or too tired to see him more than once or twice a week, and although it wasn’t _ideal_ he understood it.

Was it wrong that he liked seeing her more often? The reason was painful and nothing he would have ever wished for. Or was appreciating one of the consequences a sign that he was insensitive? Was he one of those men who tried to belittle and diminish women?

Kent gave Frank and Betty a salute as he jogged up the steps. He thought Betty smiled. He rather hoped so. it had to be a dull job and anything that stopped them literally dropping off at their posts had to be a good thing.

He passed Gary leaving as he arrived. Gary practically beamed at him. It was a little disturbing.

‘Selina?’ Kent called.

‘Madam is in the dining room,’ the butler murmured.

‘Thank you.’

Another smile. This was beginning to feel like a Stepford Wife remake.

Kent climbed the stairs to the second floor, and opened the dining room door. The table was fully laid out and there was a bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice.

‘Are we celebrating?’ Kent asked.

‘God, I really hope so,’ Selina said.

She was wearing the ring. Kent grabbed hold of a chair for support.

‘Gary got it re-sized,’ Selina said, licking her lips. ‘Is that... Is that okay? We didn’t really talk about it after...’

Kent took her hand. ‘It’s okay.’

‘Yeah?’ Selina asked, starting to smile.

‘Yeah.’ He kissed her.

‘So, we’re engaged?’ Selina smiled against his mouth.

‘We’re engaged,’ Kent agreed.

The End

 


End file.
